The Power To Be Good

THE POWER TO BE GOOD

Sermon by Don Myers

>> Preach the word.

>>> Thank you, church. I love the Lord, I Love Sunset International Bible Institute. God bless you for allowing me to be here today. I'm going to ask you to go to God in prayer with me.

PRAYER

>> Our Father, thank you for your eternal plan. Thank you, Father, for determining before the foundation of the world that you would send your Son, tabernacle him in flesh; and that he would fight the devil on the battlefield of the law and that he would be a perfect performer; and that he would earn our salvation by his performance; and that our righteousness and claim to righteousness would come from being clothed in his righteousness. And Father, we pray that that righteousness, that right standing that we have with you, will inspire us to be good, to aspire to be like him, to aspire to be like our God, who is light, and in whom there is no darkness at all.

Strengthen me today to preach your word, through the name of Jesus. Amen.

(AMEN IN UNISON)

SERMON

>> I grew up in south Mississippi. My dad worked for Chevron Oil Company. He wore a hard metal hat and steel toed boots, and I think he was the grandest fellow that ever lived.

My mother, while he worked in the oil field, operated a little country grocery store there in south Mississippi. One interesting thing about the times that we lived, we lived at the grocery store. Our home was actually connected to the grocery store, so when most folks get up and raid the refrigerator at night, I got up and got to raid the whole store.

[LAUGHTER]

>> And have never really overcome that.

[LAUGHTER]

>> But mother was at the cash register one day, and my brother about seven years old came strolling through the old wooden store, on the customer side of the counter, and discovered a five dollar bill laying on the floor of the store.

He picked that five dollar bill up, he stuffed it down into his pocket, and he begun to announce to my mother, "Mom, I found $5.00."

And she said, "Well, son, that's great. But, you know, someone has lost that money, and they're liable to come back in here and claim it."

And he said, "I don't care. I found the $5.00, and it's mine."

Well, that conversation was still in progress, I believe, when a young man came back into the store--a young man by the name of Leon and said, "Mrs. Myers, I was in here just a little while ago and buying some little things. I've lost some money."

"How much did you lose, Leon?"

He said, "Ma'am, I've lost $5.00."

She says, "Well, I'd like to tell you that Bobby my son there he's found the $5.00."

Bobby said, "That's right."

[BABY CRYING]

[LAUGHTER]

>> My mother also informed Leon that Bobby says he's not going to return the money, and Bobby Said, "That's right."

Well, my mother knew how to strike deep at his spiritual sensibilities. So she just struck the key on the cash register, and the cash register opened. She pulled out a crisp, clean, new five dollar bill, handed it over to Leon and said, "Leon, we're Christian people. We're not going to let you be cheated, son, out of your money. So here's your $5.00. But one thing I'll tell you, in the presence of Bobby Myers, his record will not be clear in heaven for what he's done today."

[LAUGHTER]

>> That that hit hard. Bobby dropped his head, put his hands down in his pockets, begun to kind of screw his feet around in the floor. Mother knew she had him. He was about to come to repentance. He popped his head up and said, "I want to tell everybody here something. My record wasn't clear before I found the $5.00."

[LAUGHTER]

>> You know, that humorous story, kind of, puts in a capsule the reason why a lot of people don't feel they can live the Christian life. They don't believe that they can live the Christian life because their record's not clear. Many people who have become children of God, still believe that their record is not clear.

And because they don't believe their record is clear, they're not certain about their eternal destiny. Not only does that destroy their assurance and smack at lack of trust in the great sin sacrifice of Jesus Christ, but it also destroys their power to live the Christian life and to bear fruit unto God.

Romans 7:1 6 unveils one context among others in the scriptures about how we might have the power, if you will, to be good.